Friday, November 14, 2014

{REVIEW} Enchanted Ivy by Sarah B. Durst

What Lily Carter wants most in the world is to attend Princeton University just like her grandfather. When she finally visits the campus, Grandpa surprises her: She has been selected to take the top-secret Legacy Test. Passing means automatic acceptance to Princeton. Sweet!

Lily's test is to find the Ivy Key. But what is she looking for? Where does she start? As she searches, Lily is joined by Tye, a cute college boy with orange and black hair who says he's her guard. That's weird. But things get seriously strange when a gargoyle talks to her. He tells her that there are two Princetons—the ordinary one and a magical one—and the Key opens the gate between them. But there are more secrets that surround Lily. Worse secrets.

When Lily enters the magical Princeton, she uncovers old betrayals and new dangers, and a chance at her dream becomes a fight for her life. Soon Lily is caught in a power struggle between two worlds, with her family at its center. In a place where knights slay monsters, boys are were-tigers, and dragons might be out for blood, Lily will need all of her ingenuity and courage—and a little magic—to unite the worlds and unlock the secrets of her past and her future.

"Enchanted Ivy" was different to what I normally read ... I saw it in a bookstore and immediately fell in love with the cover (the german one) and the design of the chapter-pages - seriously, so pretty! I'm not really into fantasy/magic - especially not when the books are kinda short, this book "only" had 340 pages (german version) - because it always takes long to imagine the world and all the different creatures that exist in it.

Surprisingly, I haven't had lots of trouble picturing the worlds of "Enchanted Ivy"! Maybe because most of it happened on the Princeton university campus, hm. Actually I was really looking forward to explore the other world and the creatures but that never really happened. It was never enough. Not for me.

It's an easy read with an interesting story but a little rushed. Sometimes that's good but here? I never had the chance to connect with the characters or feel for them. They seemed a bit flat and Lily really annoyed me - not all the time but ughh. Just a "normal" girl that isn't really normal - WHY give her the predicate NORMAL then?!

Tye was a lot more interesting - predictable but I enjoyed his humor and him in general. I knew right from the beginning what he was and I was so looking forward to find out more about him!

And still, I enjoyed this book! It's funny, makes you smile and dream about another world. I think that maybe I would have liked it more if it would have been a bit longer ... such a fantasy world with all its amazing and unique characters/creatures just needs time to grow and understand. It was a nice and lovely read but definitely nothing more than that.

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★★★★★ Absolutely BRILLIANT. Loved it to pieces!★★★★☆ Really, really good book!★★★☆☆ Enjoyed it but something disturbed me.★★☆☆☆ Well, just not my cup of tea.★☆☆☆☆ Didn't like it, not at all.☆☆☆☆☆ DNF or simply too bad to rate